/spadassin/

4.27.2007

The first steps have been taken toward digitized human minds: a simulation of neurons roughly as complex as a mouse brain has been run on a computer. It was only run briefly, and at a speed 10x slower than real time, but it's a start. Progress in computing speed will soon allow realtime simulations, or faster.

The next step is finding a way to map an existing brain, and duplicating it in a simulation.

4.11.2007

An interesting theory on early photosynthetic organisms on Earth. It seems that early microbes may have used retinal to absorb solar energy, giving them a purple hue rather than a green one. Ultimately, chlorophyll was more efficient though more difficult to produce, leading to it becoming the energy source of all plants today.

It's a good thing to keep things like this in mind when searching for extra solar planets with life on them. Our sun made chlorophyll more efficient, but a star with different properties may make retinal dominant.